The Role of Preoperative Chronic Statin Therapy in Heart Transplant Receipts—A Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Statin therapy has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. The objective of our retrospective study was to investigate the relationship between preoperative chronic administration of statins to postoperative 2-month heart transplantation complications. Methods: A total number of 38 heart transplantation recipients from the Cardiovascular and Transplant Emergency Institute of Târgu Mureș between May 2014 and January 2021 were included in our study. Results: In logistic regression, we found a statistical significance between statin treatment and the presence of postoperative complications of any cause (OR: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.008–0.56; p = 0.0128), simultaneously presenting an elevated risk for early-postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). From the statin group, atorvastatin therapy had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) development (OR: 29.73, 95% CI: 1.19–741.76; p = 0.0387) and AKI (OR: 29.73, 95% CI: 1.19–741.76; p = 0.0387). C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) represented risk factors, atorvastatin administration being independently associated with lower CRP values. Conclusions: Chronic previous administration of statins represented a protective factor to the development of 2-month postoperative complications of any cause in heart transplant receipts.